A very thoughtful article. Thanks, gotbeer, for posting it.

But it bothered me as I read it that the author emphasized unnatural or pre-mature mortality as the only alleged health risks from being overweight. As DebPenny points out, health consists of more than merely being alive. I have a hunch (and it's just a hunch) that if a study were to consider other health risks of being overweight -- such as Type II diabetes, PCOS, to name just two -- that we would be quite justified in national efforts to get people to lose weight, as well as get active.

P.S. -- DebPenny, hats off to you. I just recently tried a 4 mile, 600-foot-elevation hike, and it completely wiped me out.